So Sniffly

I think I have snot filling every empty space in my head, even my brain. My brain is probably being squished to death by mucus.

Today's lesson went a little bit unexpectedly. It turned out, having the students read a case study of the Vesuvius eruption, and then writing their own account based on their new knowledge of volcanic processes from last week, was a bit too ambitious for one day. We had enough time for the reading, and a great discussion comparing types of volcanoes, but not time for writing. So, being the responsible teacher that I am, rather then saying Oh Well, and pushing everything back a day (leaving me with one less day to plan), I worked to squeeze the writing into tomorrow's lesson. I'm excited about it, actually. They're great writers, and I'd love to see what they can do.

I also started Vocab Excellence today. Math class begins with "Excellence Worksheets", which are short, timed assignments on previously taught concepts. Grades are heavily tracked, which gives the kids incentive (and competition), and it helps get the memorization skills out of the way so we can push the kids farther. It's good for having kids learn times tables and stuff like that. So, taking a page out of the other North Star school's science teacher's book, I created a Vocab Excellence Worksheet, which had 20 definitions that students had to identify. Today they had 4 minutes to complete it, but in the future it will be only 3. They got excited about it, but they haven't been working on their science vocabulary. I've been having trouble getting them comfortable with the definitions (and quickly), so this is a great idea. On the first try (and without warning), my classes scored 67%, 72%, and 70%. Ugh. I think/hope tomorrow will be much better, now that they know what to expect.

I received a piece of feedback today that was very meaningful: my CFUs (checks for understanding, questioning of concepts) were strong. That was one of my goals this year, and I'm working hard at it. CFUs are good not only for having kids practice expressing concepts, but mostly because with some skillful CFUs, I can figure out who knows what in a very short time. I'll have to keep up the good work while still pushing the rigor.

My biggest area of improvement is the Do Nows, when the kids first enter the room. They enter silently, but take forever to get started. Thanks to my IL's advice, I now make it clear they have 30 seconds once I start the timer (after the last student shakes my hand and enters the room) to copy the homework assignment, put away their homework, and begin the Do Now. Otherwise, dollars will be lost. I tried this for my last class today, and it worked like a charm.

I also need to remember to keep 100% of students tracking 100% of the time. I keep forgetting/getting lazy/getting distracted.

Detention is my least favorite task in this school, because it's usually a room full of angry, frustrated kids who have to sit for 90 minutes and work silently on their homework. However, due to the start of homework center, tutoring, and other after school small group sessions, I had only 5 kids in detention. It was a treat. I got so much work done. I'm actually almost done planning for next week, only half a lesson left.

After 3 straight days of exercise - Saturday hiking, Sunday ballet, Monday jogging/weights - I get a well-earned break for a haircut tonight. Now that I'm done with tutoring and Jewish holidays, my weeks have a little bit more me time. Not a lot, but enough to (hopefully) stay in shape and get over this cold.